Nigeria’s long-talked-about ambition to move beyond raw mineral exports took a visible step forward on Tuesday as the Federal Government confirmed that a high-purity gold refining plant has begun operations in Lagos.
The announcement came not from a factory floor, but from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, was holding bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum. In his words, the Lagos refinery is only the first signal of a broader industrial shift unfolding across the country.
According to Alake, three additional gold refineries are currently at varying stages of development in different parts of Nigeria, while a $600 million lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State is fully built and awaiting commissioning. Together, he said, the facilities represent concrete results of the government’s value-addition drive in the mining sector.
“These projects show that Nigeria is no longer content with exporting raw minerals,” the minister noted, adding that the focus is now on processing resources locally to create jobs, boost revenue, and strengthen industrial capacity. Alake made the remarks during a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, where discussions centred on investment opportunities and collaboration in mining and mineral processing.
He said the reforms underway in Nigeria were designed to reposition the country as Africa’s leading minerals hub and a reliable global partner, particularly as demand rises for critical minerals needed for the green energy transition.
With gold refining already underway in Lagos and lithium processing set to come on stream in Nasarawa, the government believes the mining sector is beginning to reflect a policy shift from promise to production—one aimed at anchoring Nigeria more firmly in global mineral value chains.
